Friday, 8 January 2016

In My Kitchen - January 2016

The fireworks crackle in the night air and yet another year begins. Almost all the Christmas decorations are away. I've started cleaning out the kitchen but not got very far. I've carted a load to the op shop today. The school holidays are whizzing by and we still haven't finished the holiday giant crosswords from The Age newspaper.

Early summer means apricots. On New Year's Eve we passed a fruit and veg shop with cheap apricots. I bought a bagful and stewed them up for breakfasts and snacking. My mum tells me she has some off her tree waiting for me! Fresh apricots make me very happy.

We are just about through all of our Christmas gift chocolates and biscuits. This cup of chocolates was given to me by a gorgeous little boy. Kids are so cute with presents.

Sylvia received quite a few activity presents that have amused her over the holidays. This drawing set required tracing pictures onto plastic and shrinking them in the oven. I might just have been more excited than Sylvia because it reminded me of my childhood when we would shrink chip (crisp) packets in the oven for fun. That was before chips came in that crinkly foil paper that doesn't shrink. Sylvia also had lots of fun with it. (Thanks Anne.)

We have had a few mornings of making "squeezy bottle pancakes". I had fun with Christmas themed pancakes. Sylvia is keen to make more. Not quite sure what pictures will appear in the frypan next!

I made these spicy noodles from Eats Well With Others. They were good but had a bit too much soy sauce. I think I probably used a lot less noodles than Joanne. I suspect I didn't do a good job of converting from emperial into metric measurements!

A peek into my groceries! I haven't been baking much lately. So ready snacks have been quite welcome. Roasted chickpeas and broad beans (fava beans) are always great to have in a bag when we are out. We really liked the salt and vinegar flavoured ones. The Nairns stem ginger oat biscuits were surprisingly spicy. E loved them with butter and jam. Sylvia and I have been quite into the energy bars made with dried fruit and nuts - she likes apple rumble and I love the chocolate mud bars. And I had a moment of needed ready meals just before Christmas because I had no time to cook so I bought lots of instant meals like the Dhal Tadka.

We have had a few pizzas lately. I am quite adept at making fast track pizza with sourdough (see the notes section of the recipe). This pizza has to be a favourite. It is tomato sauce, vegan omelette, tofu bacon and cheese. It was so delicious in a comfort food sort of way.

My sister brought these crisps to E from Ireland. They tasted quite like sour cream and chive crisps. But it was fun to think that they had real shamrocks. I guess I should have checked the ingredients because it does seem a bit weird to think they put shamrocks in crisps. Now the packet is in the bin and I will never know!

Another presents for Sylvia that provided lots of entertainment was this magic garden. You put the water in the base, the cardboard soaks it up and grows crystals. This is not the fully grown garden. However it is the best photo. By the time it was fully grown, little fingers had fiddled with trees and knocked them over and few times and it was moved to the verandah and as soon as little fingers in question had gone for a sleepover the garden found its way to the bin!

Tonight's dinner was inspired by Recipe Yum's Potato Quesadillas. With lots of changes! I mashed the potato with some guacamole spices (kindly given to me by my friend's mum who is selling them), fried the onion and added garlic, spinach, plum vinegar and smoked salt, and added some pizza cheese that I had bought a while back and needed using. Delicious.

We have had dinner outside quite a bit while the weather has been nice. One evening we were enjoying sitting outside when E sunk very low very suddenly. His seat had given way. I have had these chairs for 25 years so I feel I have got good value out of them. But I am very sad they are giving up the ghost.

And I will finish with a close up of ripening cherry tomatoes in our garden. Unfortunately I can't show you a handful. As soon as any have ripened, Sylvia pops them in her mouth. Though perhaps tomorrow I will have a few because she is at my parents' house on a sleepover.

I am sending this post to Maureen of The Orgasmic Chef who is hosting the wonderful In My Kitchen event while Celia takes a break. It is an event where bloggers around the world share what is happening in their kitchens. Please head over to Maureen's blog and visit some other bloggers or even join in (by 10th of each month).

You highlight the striking contrast between traditional Christmas treats, meant as comfort food in the coldest months, and the early-summer bounty of Australia, like fresh apricots growing on trees. Miss Fisher last night managed to have Christmas in some snowy part of Australia, though. A grim mining area and a grim plot, but beautiful settings and clothing, of course!

Cute crafts with Sylvia - I used to like those oven shrinky things when I was younger too!The chocolate mud bars sound so good! As does the Dhal Tadka. I try to make meals as much as possible, but sometimes life gets in the way and I like to have packaged meals on hand.According to Keogh's website - it looks like they do indeed include shamrocks in their products. Very interesting.Love the look of your garden =)

Thanks Kimmy - I make so many meals at home that it feels a cop out to do the packaged ones but I have fond memories of the lazy weekend meals where my mum did tinned baked beans and tomato soup so I quite enjoy those sort of meals

That chair gave you lots of faithful service! Had to laugh at the garden finding it's way to the bin, we have a few kids presents here that I wish would go the same way... and I love the idea of shamrock chips! Too bad you didn't shrink the packet in the oven :P

Thanks Faye - the garden was great but it was so hard to stop sylvia touching it - she was fascinated by the crystals and those trees didn't need much encouragement to fall on the floor. I am too suspicious of chip packets these days but it would be a great one to shrink

Oh gosh, magic gardens have gotten fancy in the past two decades!! And the soy sauce... made me laugh because I always find American stir-fry recipes too salty. But was it maybe because of the tablespoon measurement thing? 6 American tbs is just over 1/3 cup, whereas 6 Australian tbs is 1/2 cup... Also Happy New Year!!

Thanks Hannah - Happy New Year - I don't think I follow many American stir fry recipes but it is a good reminder to go with gut instinct rather than following a recipe to the T. And you have made me curious about what magic gardens used to look like - I can't remember them in my childhood

Oh I love the squeezy bottle pancakes! That makes such a fun breakfast. Those chairs have done their duty, that's for sure. Time for new seats though. :) Potato quesadillas is inspired! Thanks heaps for being part of In My Kitchen!

Thanks Maureen - the pancakes are fun for breakfast - and yep those chairs have seen lots of good times but fortunately we got new ones for christmas (because another pair wore out). so pleased you are helping to keep in my kitchen going

How lovely to have all those apricots; they are one of my most favourite fruits. I have never eaten a shamrock! I think the noodle dish looks fabulous but what a shame about over-doing the soy sauce - that's a problem that's hard to fix! Thanks for letting me know about the prize you won; I'm so glad it's been useful xx

Thanks Charlie - apricots are a favourite fruit of mine. I enjoyed the noodle dish but E was not so keen because of the soy sauce - I guess I could have added more noodles but I just ate the leftovers anyway! And yes thanks again for the healthy eating pack!

Apricots! I wish we had some cheap (and tasty ones) up this way. Stone fruit seems woeful this season. Very impressed with the magic garden. I have become quite the adept at sneaking my kid's things into the bin... I feel like a smuggler hustling out with those broken crayons!! Shamrock chips have me intrigued...

Thanks Lisa - sorry to hear stone fruit hasn't been so good up your way - it has been great down here. And I probably should sneak more into the bin but feel too bad about it (well not to say I don't do it)

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Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.